Letoon

Letoon
was the sacred cult center of Lycia, its most important sanctuary, and was
dedicated to the three national deities of Lycia - Leto and her twin children
Apollo and Artemis. Leto was also worshiped as a family deity and as the
guardian of the tomb.

Letoon lies less than 10 km to the
south of Xanthos on a fertile plain. Xanthos and Letoon are often seen as
a "double-site", since the two were closely linked and Letoon was administered
by Xanthos. Xanthos-Letoon is one of the most remarkable archaeological
sites in Turkey. For this reason, it has been registered in the UNESCO World
Heritage Sites list. Letoon has been under excavation since the 1950's and since
1962 by the French Archaeological Mission, in conjunction with the excavations
being carried out at Xanthos. Excavation goes on today - the team has done some
excellent work and in recent years has begun to restore the Temple of Leto.

Letoon is a romantic site and many
of the monuments arise from standing water which provides lush vegetation.
Terrapins and frogs are usually seen. Unfortunately though, the high water
table hinders excavation.

To reach Letoon, you turn west one
km beyond the road from Kinik to Fethiye and continue 5 km. It's not far
from Patara and a day trip from Kalkan, Kaş or Fethiye to Letoon or Xanthos
could easily be combined with a trip to the beach and/or ruins there.

Several finds from Letoon (as well
as artifacts from other sites), including the important
Trilingual Stele from Letoon, bearing inscriptions in Greek,
Lycian and Aramaic, (crucial in the deciphering of the Lycian language) can be
seen in the Fethiye
Museum.

Mythology

According to a legend told by Ovid
the latin poet, the nymph Leto was loved by Zeus and gave birth to her twins
fathered by him, Atemis and Apollo on the island of Delos. Zeus' jealous
wife Hera pursued Leto and chased her with the twins to Anatolia where she came
to the place of Letoon. Here she tried to quench her thrist at a spring
but local shepherds attempted to chase her from the water - until she turned
them into frogs in retaliation. Another story gives the twins' birthplace
as the source of the Xanthos River and another story says that wolves helped her
find the Xanthos River. In gratitude she named the country Lycia: Lykos is Greek
for wolf.

Letoon
was a sanctuary precinct and not actually a city, and seems to have had no major
settlement associated with it at any period. It was administered by
Xanthos and was the spiritual heart of Lycia, its federal sanctuary and the
place of national festivals. Letoon was the center of pagan cults activity
until perhaps the 5th century AD when Lycia was ravaged by Arab attacks and the
area started to silt up with sand brought by the Xanthos River. It is believed
to have been abandonded by the 7th century AD.

Archaeological finds date back to
the late 6th century BC. During the Archaic and Classical periods (7th-5th
century BC) the site was probably sacred to to the cult of an earlier mother
goddess (Eni Mahanahi in Lycia), which was later superseded by the worship of
Leto. Click
here to see archeaological evidence of mother goddess worship found
at Letoon, from the late 6th century BC.

During Roman Times, the Emperor
Hadrian founded an emperor worship cult at the site. Christianity later
replaced pagan beliefs and in the 5th century AD a chuch was built using stones
from the old temples.

An inscription found at Letoon refers to the establishment of the cult as well
as its rules for monthly and annual sacrifices - offenders against this were
found guilty before Leto, her children and the Nymphs. The Lycian cult of Leto
was one of the many forms of the wide-spread mother-goddess religion which
originated in ancient Anatolia and spread throughout the ancient world. It
is noteworthy that a woman was allowed to preside over the national assembly
that was held each autumn at Letoon - perhaps a reminder of the ancient
matriarchal customs in Anatolia.

Main
phases of the layout of the sanctuary:

In
Classical times, some isolated edifices were built on terraces laid out
between the hill and the holy spring.

In
Greek times, temples and porticoes were erected in a a regular grid.

In
Roman times, the Nymphaeum was re-designed in baroque style

In
Byzantine times, a basilica was built on the altar's terrace, which
dominated a site progressively covered by water.

The sanctuary was once bordered by large porticoes, where pilgrims could rest
and which closed off the site. The
three temples were erected on podiums, which is typical of Lycian architecture.
They offered a spectacular view to pilgrims walking up the Holy Street from the
propylon (a monument gateway leading to the sanctuary) which was located down
the platform where the temples and altars were built.

The site exends further to the south, but this
area has yet to be excavated.

Temples - Remains of three
temples, each dedicated to one of the three deities of Letoon are
located side by side in the center of the site. All three temples were
built around older temples, probably dating back to Classical times. The
temples of Artemis and Apollo were burnt down to slaked lime, however
the temple of Leto was only destroyed in the end of Antiquity and so
eighty per cent of the temple blocks have been preserved.

The temple of Leto is the largest
and best-preserved temple, likely dating back to the 5th century BC.
The temple was built of very fine limestone, the clear color of which
created the illusion of marble. An ionic portico surrounded the
cult room (cella), which was decorated with an elegant engaged
corinthian colonnade. Because of its dimensions and the quality of
its sculptured decoration, this temple is one of the most exceptional
examples of Greek architecture in Turkey and one of the best preserved
Greek temples in the world.

To the east of the temple of Leto is the
temple of Apollo, dated c. 4th century BC. This temple was
Doric, unlike the other two temples, both of which were Ionic. A
gorgeous floor mosaic depicting his symbols - bow and arrow, and lyre
are seen here. Between the other temples lies the
temple of Artemis, also dating back to c. 4th century BC. It is
smaller with excellent masonry.

Nymphaeum - To the southwest of
the temples is a nymphaeum connected to a sacred spring, full of
terrapins and frogs some say to be the unfortunate shepards transformed
by Leto’s vengeance. It was perhaps used in an religious immersion
ceremony and was built during the Hellenistic period with the Roman
addition of a semi-circular pool.

Basilica - remains of a
Byzantine church with a nearby mosaic fragment. The church is believed to
have been constructed in the 6th century AD and to have been destroyed around
the mid-7th century, possibly by the Arab attacks of that period. The nave
and aisles were decorated with floor mosiacs depicting geometric designs and
animal figures (these can't be viewed - they are now either covered or have been
removed). It is thought that there was a monastic community associated
with the church and, due to the large number of drinking vessels found during
excavation, the late Martin Harrison (the chief excavator) dubbed its members
"the Drunken Monks".
More information from Bilkent University.

Amphitheatre - Letoon's theatre
(said to be one of the most beautiful of Hellenistic times) has vaulted
passages leading to entrances on either side and is in a very good state
of preservation. It was constructed in the 2nd century BC and was used
for religious perfomances. The central part of the auditorium was
carved from natural bedrock and the aisles made from ashlars. The
theatre was situated at the end of the road from Xanthos, which passed
through a Lycian cemetary. The entrance on the south side has an
interesting carving of a row of sixteen masks.